Day 4

5.04: I’ve always rather fancied being a postman, another set of people that get up early. But not this morning; they’re on strike again – quite rightly too I reckon. One of Peter Mandelson’s mouthpieces says “The union by directing their fire on him are trying to hide the fact that there is no good or logical reason for this dispute.” No good or logical reason except your average postie is expected to work twice as hard, for no extra pay, serving a modernisation plan designed eventually to eliminate his own job. Funny how reluctant the mainstream (even left wing) media has been to give figures on the number of jobs already cut, and the pay demands of the posties. In this consumer age, bulletins on how long your subscription to Nuts magazine will be delayed makes more salable copy.

Anyway, I hope this morning some of our postal workers are taking advantage of their finely attuned body clocks to get up and write novels.

5.54: Farming Today says there’s also a short of qualified farmers, and we may not be able to grow enough food to meet demand in the future. More early risers fleeing to novel writing I’ll bet.

Reporter: Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it?Strachan: No, I’m just going to crumble like a wreck. I’ll go home, become an alcoholic and maybe jump off a bridge.

6.51: Faltering a bit today. Roughly 1000 words stammered out, but each of them had a hard birth. Will I crumple like a wreck, go home, become an alcoholic and maybe jump off a bridge? Tune in tomorrow and find out.